Nirupa Padia

Risk disclosures by South African listed companies post-King III

The introduction of principles on the governance of risk in the King Code on Corporate Governance (King III), coupled with the drive for more integrated models of reporting, has highlighted the need for effective communication of risks and risk-management strategies to stakeholders. To date, however, there has been little research on trends in risk disclosure practices by large firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). As such, this research adds to the body of integrated reporting literature by examining changes in the extent of risk disclosures by these companies from 2010 to 2012. The research finds that, although there has been an increase in disclosure over this period, there is a possibility of reporting on the governance of risk being a compliance-based exercise rather than an example of effective stakeholder communication.

Perceptions of justice as a catalyst for whistle-blowing by trainee auditors in South Africa

Purpose - – This study aims to use organisational justice theory to examine variations in the propensity of trainee auditors in South Africa to blow the whistle internally on misconduct by an engagement leader. Design/methodology/approach - – Three vignettes describing high and low states of distributive, procedural and interactive justice are presented to a sample of trainee auditors. A questionnaire is used to gauge the likelihood of trainees blowing the whistle after taking into account a number of control variables. Preliminary results are analysed using parametric Findings - – The study finds that the likelihood of trainee auditors reporting an engagement leader for misconduct increases when there is a high level of distributive, interactional and procedural justice. Gender, age, seniority, the importance of religion and performance ratings does not appear to have an effect on the propensity to whistle-blowing. Research limitations/implications - – The growing importance of an effective mechanism for reporting malfeasance is reflected in both the academic and professional literature. Prior research has found that ensuring high levels of organisational justice is one means of promoting whistle-blowing in a professional setting. This paper argues that the same applies to trainee auditors. In turn, this suggests that audit firms wanting to implement sound audit quality control practices should be mindful of how their whistle-blowing policies are implemented and perceived by their junior staff. Originality/value - – This paper is the first to apply organisational justice theory in a South African setting with specific reference to trainee auditors. As such, it makes an important contribution to the literature on whistle-blowing. The findings should also be of interest to the audit profession when seeking to implement effective quality control and monitoring systems, as required by the relevant professional standards.

Ethics in business: The implications for the training of professional accountants in a South African setting

In the aftermath of numerous corporate scandals, there has been an increased focus on the ethical awareness of professional accountants and auditors. As a consequence, the efforts of universities to integrate ethics training into accounting curricula have come under scrutiny. Using a questionnaire based on seventeen short ethical scenarios, and two additional variables, gender and the importance of religion, this paper expands on the existing literature on the usefulness of formal ethics training at a tertiary level. The focus is specifically on the South African accounting education arena. The paper suggests that, in spite of the prevalence of such courses, a propensity for potentially unethical behaviour remains common. The research also finds that perceived importance of religion and gender may not be decisive factors for ethical awareness.

Board composition, board size and financial performance of Johannesburg stock exchange companies

On the basis of agency theory and resource dependence theory, as well as other corporate governance literature, it is predicted that board composition measured as the ratio of non-executive to executive board members and the number of directors on a firm’s board can be positively related to firm performance. This study seeks to test the predictions of this body of theory and to investigate the form of the empirical relationships among these effects. In so doing, this study tests theory that relates these variables in the context of a developing country, using data from South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange, over a seven-year period, 2006–2012.

Audit fee premium: The potential effect of King III

In the wake of corporate scandals at world-renowned companies such as Enron (in 2001) and WorldCom (in 2002), public confidence in the role of the auditing profession was eroded. Consequently, in the United States, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) introduced a raft of mandatory corporate governance initiatives; in the United Kingdom measures included expanding the role of the Financial Reporting Council, the updating of the Combined Code in 2003 and the 2005 Company Law Reform Act; while in France, the Financial Security introduced provisions which were deemed to be very similar to SOX. In South Africa, corporate reforms included the introduction of the King I to III codes of corporate governance, the Companies Act No.71 of 2008 and the Auditing Profession Act No. 26 of 2005. In particular, King III introduced the concept of integrated reporting (IR) which recommends that companies report holistically on both financial and sustainability (economic, social and environmental) issues. In contrast to SOX, however, the application of King III is voluntary, operating on an ‘apply or explain’ basis. The introduction of SOX was postulated to have increased compliance costs and created fee opportunities for the audit profession, giving rise to questions as to whether or not the introduction of IR in King III had introduced similar opportunities for the auditing profession in South Africa, resulting in audit firms charging an audit fee premium1. In this study, multiple regression analysis was conducted on two sets of models to test two hypotheses: (i) that the BIG42 audit firms potentially charged an audit fee premium in response to the recommendations of King III on IR, and (ii) that audit fees are related to non-audit service fees. Results of the research do not show any evidence to suggest that the advent of King III was related to audit fee premiums, yet a strong relationship was found between audit3 and non-audit service fees4. Further, certain of the BIG4 audit firms were found to obtain an audit fee premium. The findings of this study add a South African dimension to the existing body of knowledge on the relationships between audit fees and governance initiatives in this context.